Sandy scheduled her calendar every day, but was never able to stick with it; but today was going to be different. She planned on checking email and voice messages in the first 15 minutes of her day. One of the employees caught her on the way in and he was in a panic; He told her that he lost the itinerary for the next day’s meeting, and did not know what to do with his calendar. She retrieved one for him, and he spent the next 20 minutes asking her questions about the meeting. Before she was done checking messages, someone ran in and told her that the printer was low on toner and she needed to change it. By now, she needed to remind her manager about another meeting. When he left, he gave her a project to research while he was gone. She would need to work through lunch, again, to complete it along with her regular tasks. Once again, her schedule seemed to be a complete waste of time.
Today’s sophisticated, suave and highly trained “Executive, Administrative or Personal Assistants” lead many roles within the organization: being powerful gate-keepers … telling clients that the boss is ‘not feeling well today’, or ‘He’s cannot be disturbed’, but in reality he is watching sports on TV – right in the office! Be-friend them if you want access; dis-please them and they have the power to make your life miserable (in a very subtle manner!).
Here are some tips for the most important person in every organization:
• Adapt Manager’s Styles: This helps make life easier for their employers. They are adaptable to the communication and work styles, needs and responsibilities of their bosses.
• Administrative Soft Skills: Social intelligence, business acumen, office management skills and active listening are just a few of the skills they develop along the way to building a great working relationship with those around them - making life easier for everyone.
• Effective Time Management:Not only do they have to manage their own time but also the time of their manager and those around. They take the time to implement a few time management techniques, and maintain control of their time and energy while increasing overall productivity.
• Meeting Management: Meetings are crucial to the success of every business. While they may not attend the meeting, they are in charge of managing meetings. Effective meetings is a matter of planning, organization, and timing. Fortunately, experience will make meetings easier to manage.
• Tools Of The Trade: The tools of the trade for an assistant goes beyond simply printing, filing, and taking messages. They become familiar with (copy) machines, computer programs, and etiquette to become a successful assistant. When they are unsure about any job-related tools, they take the time to educate themselves. Ever changing technology is constantly re-shaping their jobs. Keeping up with the tools of the trade allow them to become invaluable to the organization they serve.
• Effective Gate-keepers:It is their job to save your manager the time and hassle of distractions. These may be preventing sales calls or weeding out unnecessary information. They are savvy and has the ability to see through tricks.
• Organizational Skills: With the busy schedule that assistants have to keep, organizational skills are essential to success. Learn how to prioritize, plan, and work towards your goals. Organization is a skill that you can always work to improve.
• Confidentiality: It is imperative that you learn how to handle all information and keep privileged information from leaking to the public. Following confidentiality guidelines will make you a better assistant and improve the level of trust that your employer has in you.
• Special Tasks:As a valued assistant, be prepared to take on special roles and tasks. You will be interacting with clients and managing social media. You may be managing projects and hosting trade shows. With a little practice and research, you will be ready for any situation.
• Grace Under Pressure: Effectively managing your own stress factors and of those around yougoes with the territory. If your boss or anyone else is having a bad day - you cannot let that pass through you to affect someone else, especially clients. You are expected to uphold your sanctity in face of dire circumstances.
Much success to you as you smile to everyone while maintaining ‘grace under pressure’!
NEXT WEEK: Successful Event Planning.
DISCLAIMER: This article was written by Fas Trac Inc. The editor nor this newspaper is responsible for the content presented in this article. Fas Trac Inc. provides business consultancy for buying, streamlining, or selling a business; as well as conducting workshops on various subjects for business owners, management and employees. For more success please write fastracinc@shaw.ca.
